I was grateful to be with some college friends recently. One of them is starting a new role in a new community and their position is actually all about finding the places within the community where they can serve and be of help and support to various agencies, groups, and individuals. It was so fun to hear them talk about the excitement of looking around with a fresh set of eyes in a new setting to see all of the possibilities that exist around them. Their perspective reminded me of something I think is super easy to do, especially when you've been in the same place for a while. It's what another one of my friends calls "Navel gazing!"
Navel Gazing is when we get so caught up in our own world and our own situation that we can't really see anything else. We are just looking down at ourselves, focused so much on ourselves that we miss everything that is happening around us. It's easy to fall into this predicament, and personally I think having a smart phone in my hand has actually made it easier for me to navel gaze! In fact, one of the tools I have been using to remind myself to stop navel gazing (not always as successfully as I want!), is the simple phrase, "Look up!"
When I am able to look up, and I know this is going to sound super obvious, but I immediately start noticing the world around me. Sometimes I am just struck with the beautiful nature that surrounds me. Other times I am able to see the smile on the person's face as we pass each other in the aisle of the grocery store. If I am lucky, I get to see an act of compassion unfolding between two people, or I have the incredible privilege of seeing a need in someone else I have the honor of helping. But if I don't look up, I am stuck in my own little world, drowning in my own navel.
How might you be impacted by looking up today? What shift inside of you might be possible by shifting your focus outside of you? When you look up, what do you think you will discover, and how could you take action on what you see? Who do you think you could show some care and attention to if you were willing to stop navel gazing and just look up?
Here's to Looking Up this week!
Be Well,
Stephen
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